Table cutting machine

ABSTRACT

One aspect of the invention can include a cutting machine having a table, a cutting machine body supported by the table via a sliding mechanism to allow movement in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, the cutting machine body including a fixed cover positioned around an upper side of a rotary blade mounted to a rotatably driven spindle, the rear edge portion of the fixed cover is recessed upward to enable a large cutting depth. The sliding mechanism includes an intermediate stopper mechanism that can be operated to switch between a state where the cutting machine body can slide within an entire slidable range and a state were the cutting machine body can slide only within a partial slidable range at a midway position.

This application claims priority to Japanese patent application serialnumber 2008-74219, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a table cutting machine adapted to movea cutting machine body provided with, for example, a round grind stoneor a rotary blade such as saw tooth downward for carrying out a cuttingoperation or the like to a cut material fixed on a table.

2. Description of the Related Art

This type of table cutting machine includes a table, on which aworkpiece is supported and fixed in position, and a cutting machine bodyvertically movably supported on the table. The cutting machine bodyincludes an electric motor as a drive source and a circular rotary bladerotatably driven by the electric motor. In order to perform a cuttingoperation, with a workpiece fixed onto that table and with the cuttingblade rotated, an operator moves the cutting machine body verticallydownward, so that the rotary blade cuts into the workpiece.

A fence is positioned on the table in order to position the workpiecewithin a plane parallel to the table surface. In the case of a cuttingmachine having a turntable rotatably supported on a base, the fence ispositioned to extend over the turntable and opposite ends of the fenceis fixedly attached to the base.

In addition to a cutting machine having a cutting machine body that issimply vertically moved to perform a cutting operation, a slide-typecutting machine is known. The slide-type cutting machine has a cuttingmachine body that can be slid in a direction within a plane parallel tothe table surface after having moved downward. Therefore, a rotary bladecan cut a workpiece as it moves by a large stroke.

In general, a cutting machine body has a configuration in which asubstantially upper half range of the periphery of the rotary blade iscovered with a fixed cover (blade case) and a substantially lower halfrange of the peripheral thereof is covered with a movable cover whichemploys an open-close system has been disclosed. An electric motor as adrive source is arranged on the rear side of the fixed cover. Theelectric motor causes a spindle projecting into the fixed cover torotate. The rotary blade is mounted to the spindle. The movable cover isgradually opened in association with the downward movement of thecutting machine body and, meanwhile, a lower portion of the rotary bladeis gradually exposed and this exposed portion gradually cut into the cutmaterial. Therefore, a maximum range of the rotary blade which is ableto cut into the cut material is limited to a range exposed downward fromthe fixed cover in a state in which the movable cover is fully opened.

Yet, a larger cutting depth is required for some special cuttingoperations. In a case of cutting a so-called crown-mold material, whichis a cut material used mainly as a house-building material and haswidthwise ends inclined in the opposite directions from each other interms of the thickness direction, in the widthwise oblique direction forexample, since both the oblique end surfaces at the widthwise ends needto be cut at an precise angle, the cut material generally is leanedobliquely between a table and a positioning fence, is fixedlypositioned, and is brought into abutment at the inclined end surfacesthereof at the widthwise ends with the upper surface of the table and apositioning surface of the fence respectively in a surface abutmentstate and, in this state, the table is rotated, and the rotary blade isadvanced so as to cut into the material obliquely in terms of thewidthwise direction, so that an angular cutting is achieved.

In order to carry out the special cutting operation as described above(for example, the cutting operation carried out for a high cut materialby placing the same so as to lean obliquely between the table and thepositioning fence), various technologies have been disclosed. Forexample, a lower end portion of the fixed cover in a range on the rearside of the spindle (the center of rotation of the rotary blade)(hereinafter, referred simply as a rear edge of the fixed cover) isrecessed upward to secure a larger cutting depth in the range on therear side, thereby enabling the above-described special cuttingoperation.

According to these technologies, as a result of having retracted therear edge of the fixed cover upward, part of a cutting edge of therotary blade is not covered completely with the movable cover, and hencea configuration in which the uncovered portion is covered by anadditionally provided auxiliary cover. This type of configuration canuse a link lever to open and close the auxiliary cover using the upwardand downward movement of the cutting machine body or a configuration inwhich the auxiliary cover is turned in the closing direction by its ownweight, is brought into abutment with the upper surface of the cuttingmaterial, and is relatively opened by the downward movement of thecutting machine body is employed as the opening and closing operationsof the auxiliary cover employed.

However, in the case of the slide-type cutting machine, when the rearedge of the fixed cover is retraced upward to ensure a large cuttingdepth at a rear side region, a problem may be caused that a mount flangefor mounting the rotary blade to the spindle, or the like may contactthe workpiece to cause damage to the workpiece when the cutting machinebody is slid by a large distance in a cutting direction.

Because no specific countermeasure has been taken in the known art, anoperator must carefully control a sliding distance of the cuttingmachine body not to cause contact of the mount flange with theworkpiece. Therefore, the known slide-type cutting device is stillnecessary to be improved in its operability.

Thus, there is a need in the art for a configuration that can improvethe operability of a cutting machine by preventing a mounting device formounting a rotary blade, or the like from contacting with a workpieceduring a sliding movement of a cutting machine body in the case that thecutting machine body is vertically movable and can slide in a directionparallel to a surface of a table and that a lower edge of a fixed coveris retracted upward for ensuring a large cutting depth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention can include a cutting machine having atable, a cutting machine body supported by the table via a slidingmechanism to allow movement in a vertical direction and a horizontaldirection, the cutting machine body including a fixed cover positionedaround an upper side of a rotary blade mounted to a rotatably drivenspindle, the rear edge portion of the fixed cover is recessed upward toenable a large cutting depth. The sliding mechanism includes anintermediate stopper mechanism that can be operated to switch between astate where the cutting machine body can slide within an entire slidablerange and a state were the cutting machine body can slide only within apartial slidable range at a midway position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general side view of a table cutting machine according to anembodiment. FIG. 1 shows a left side view viewed from a user. FIG. 1shows a state in which a cutting machine body is held at an upperwaiting position.

FIG. 2 is a general side view of a table cutting machine according tothe embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the cutting machine bodyis moved downward to a lower end position.

FIG. 3 is a general side view of the table cutting machine according tothe embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a state in which a cutting operation iscarried out on a cut material by a rotary blade by moving the cuttingmachine body downward and then sliding the same rearward. FIG. 3 shows astate in which a rearmost position of the cutting machine body islimited by an intermediate stopper mechanism and is held at a positionwhere a front portion of the auxiliary cover is in the course of movingover top of the positioning fence.

FIG. 4 is a general side view of the table cutting machine according tothe embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the cutting machine bodyis moved downward and then slid to the rearmost position of the slidingmovement. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the intermediate stoppermechanism is released.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the table cutting machineaccording to the embodiment. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the cuttingmachine body is moved downward and then retracted to an intermediateposition of an entire sliding range by the intermediate stoppermechanism. FIG. 5 also shows a state in which the front portion of theauxiliary cover is in the course of moving over top of the positioningfence.

FIG. 6 is a back view of the table cutting machine according to theembodiment. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the table cutting machine isviewed from the right side as viewed from the user.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the auxiliary cover as a single unit.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the auxiliary cover as a single unit. In FIG.8, a portion of the auxiliary cover near a portion which supports aturning movement is shown in an exploded state. In FIG. 8, part of afixed cover and part of a link lever are shown by double dashed lines,respectively.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the auxiliary cover takenalong the line (F9)-(F9) in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 shows a state in which ashielding edge on the left side when viewed by the user is viewed frominside.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an upper sliding mechanism and aperiphery thereof viewed obliquely from above on the rear side. FIG. 10shows a state in which the cutting machine body is slid to a frontmostposition of the sliding movement with respect to the upper slidingmechanism.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the upper sliding mechanism and theperiphery thereof viewed obliquely from the front. FIG. 11 shows a statein which the cutting machine body is slid to the frontmost position withrespect to the upper sliding mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a view of a bearing holder and a rib thereof from the frontin the direction indicated by arrows (F12)-(F12) in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a rear view of a fixing lever and the periphery thereofviewed from the rear in the direction of arrow indicated by (F13) inFIG. 1.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an inclined angle display device viewedfrom the left front side. FIG. 14 shows a state in which the cuttingmachine body is held at a right-angle cutting position with an angle ofinclination of zero.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of a second angle scale and a secondindicator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above and belowmay be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features andteachings to provide improved cutting machines. Representative examplesof the present invention, which examples utilize many of theseadditional features and teachings both separately and in conjunctionwith one another, will now be described in detail with reference to theattached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teacha person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferredaspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scopeof the invention. Only the claims define the scope of the claimedinvention. Therefore, combinations of features and steps disclosed inthe following detailed description may not be necessary to practice theinvention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely toparticularly describe representative examples of the invention.Moreover, various features of the representative examples and thedependent claims may be combined in ways that are not specificallyenumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of thepresent teachings.

Referring now to FIG. 1 to FIG. 15, an embodiment of the presentinvention will be described. FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show a table-type cuttingmachine 1 according to the embodiment in general. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, auser is positioned on the right side of the cutting machine 1. In thefollowing description, the front and rear of the respective members andthe configurations are defined such that the right side in FIG. 1 (nearside of the user) corresponds to the front side and the left sidecorresponds to the rear side.

The cutting machine 1 includes a substantially circular table 20 forplacing a cutting material W, a base 30 for supporting the table 20 soas to be capable of rotating horizontally and a cutting machine body 10arranged above the table 20 via a body supporting member 40 provided ata rear portion (left side portion in FIG. 1) of the table 20.Hereinafter, a so-called crown-mold material W1 to be cut in a state ofleaning against a positioning fence and a cut material W2 formed into anormal flat board which is cut in a state in which the widthwisedirection thereof is oriented upright at a right angle along thepositioning fence are exemplified as the cut materials W. Both the cutmaterials W (W1, W2) have a height from the upper surface of the tablehigher than normal, so that a large cutting depth is required for arotary blade 12.

As shown in FIG. 5, the table 20 is supported on the upper surface ofthe base 30 so as to be capable of rotating horizontally via a shaft 33.The rotational position of the table 20 is adjusted quickly andprecisely according to the operation by two-system stopper mechanism. Inthe drawings, reference numerals 21 and 22 designate operating levers ofthe two-system stopper mechanism. Both the operating lever 21 and 22 arerespectively arranged at a front end portion of the table 20, where theuser is able to operate easily.

Both left and right end portions of the base 30 are protruded sidewardfrom the table 20, and the protruded portions correspond to base seats31 and 31. Upper surfaces 31 a and 31 a of the left and right base seats31 and 31 are aligned to be flush with the upper surface of the table20. A positioning fence 32 is mounted to the upper surfaces 31 a and 31a of the left and right base seats 31 and 31 so as to extend acrosstherebetween. The front surface of the positioning fence 32 correspondsto a positioning surface 32 a to which the cutting material W is to beabutted. As shown in the drawing, the exemplified positioning fence 32has the positioning surface 32 a at a relatively high position. Thepositioning surface 32 a matches the center of rotation of the table 20(the axial center of the shaft 33), and is orthogonal to the uppersurface of the table 20. The positioning fence 32 enables positioning ofthe cut material W1 in a state of leaning against the positioningsurface 32 a and the upper surface of the table 20 so as to extendtherebetween as shown in the drawing.

The cutting machine body 10 is supported via the body supporting member40 so as to be capable of sliding in the fore-and-aft direction and oftilting in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 1, a position inwhich the cutting machine body 10 is returned to the uppermost endcorresponds to the waiting position. When the cutting machine body 10 ismoved downward from the waiting position (a state shown in FIG. 2) andthen the cutting machine body 10 is slid rearward as shown in FIG. 3,the rotary blade 12 is caused to cut into the large cut material W1 forcutting operation.

The cutting machine body 10 is adapted to be able to change the cuttingangle of the rotary blade 12 with respect to the cutting material Wangularly leftward or rightward in plan view by rotating the table 20leftward or rightward by an adequate angle. Hereinafter, this cuttingstate is referred to as angular cutting. In this angular cutting, theaxis of rotation of the rotary blade 12 (the axis of rotation of aspindle 18) is maintained in parallel to the upper surface of the table20 (the direction of the table surface). In this angular cuttingoperation, the rotary blade 12 advances so as to cut into the materialobliquely with respect to the positioning surface 32 a of thepositioning fence 32. When the rotary blade 12 advances so as to cutinto the material in the direction orthogonal to the positioning surface32 a, a right angle cutting is achieved. This right angle cutting isused most frequently.

In contrast, the cutting machine body 10 is adapted to be able to carryout the cutting operation by advancing the rotary blade 12 so as to cutinto the cutting material W obliquely when viewed from the front (userside) by being inclined leftward or rightward by a tilt supportingmechanism 50 of the body supporting member 40, which will be describedlater. Hereinafter, this cutting state is referred to as an obliquecutting. In this oblique cutting, the axis of rotation of the rotaryblade 12 is maintained in a non-parallel state with respect to the uppersurface of the table 20 (the direction of the table surface). The angleof inclination of the rotary blade 12 in this oblique cutting isdisplayed by an inclined angle display device 60 described later. Theright-angle cutting is achieved in a state in which the axis of rotationof the rotary blade 12 is positioned in parallel to the upper surface ofthe table 20 and the rotary blade 12 is vertically positioned (at anangle of inclination of zero).

In this manner, the cutting machine body 10 is supported by the bodysupporting member 40 so as to be capable of tilting in the verticaldirection, to be capable of sliding in the fore-and-aft direction, andto be capable of tilting in the lateral direction. The body supportingmember 40 includes upper and lower sliding mechanisms 41 and 42 at twolevels for supporting the cutting machine body 10 so as to be capable ofsliding in the fore-and-aft direction and the lateral tilt mechanism 50for allowing the cutting machine body 10 to tilt in leftward andrightward when viewed from the user. The slide mechanism 41 on the lowerside includes two lower slide bars 41 a and 41 a supported in parallelat a certain distance in the lateral direction. As shown in FIG. 5, boththe lower slide bars 41 a and 41 a are supported via the bearings 41 bmounted to the lower surface of the table 20 respectively so as to becapable of sliding in the fore-and-aft direction. The lateral tiltmechanism 50 is mounted at rear end portions of both the lower slidingbars 41 a and 41 a.

The lateral tilt mechanism 50 includes a fixed-side supporting member 52and a tilting-side supporting member 53 coupled via a lateral tilt shaft51 so as to be capable of mutual rotation. The rear end portions of thelower slide bars 41 a and 41 a are coupled to the fixed-side supportingmember 52. Therefore, both the lower left and right slide bars 41 a and41 a slide integrally in parallel to each other in the fore-and-aftdirection, whereby the cutting machine body 10 slides in thefore-and-aft direction.

The cutting machine body 10 is tilted in the lateral direction when thetilting-side supporting member 53 rotates by a certain angle leftward orrightward about the lateral tilt shaft 51 with respect to the fixed-sidesupporting member 52. A positioning mechanism for positioning thecutting machine body 10 at a right angle position, at a 45° inclinedposition or the like (so-called positive block mechanism) is integratedbetween the fixed-side supporting member 52 and the tilting-sidesupporting member 53.

The rotational position of the tilting-side supporting member 53 withrespect to the fixed-side supporting member 52, that is, the leftward orrightward tilted position of the cutting machine body 10 is fixed bytightening a fixing lever 55. The tilted position of the cutting machinebody 10 is quickly and precisely read by the inclined angle displaydevice 60.

The fixing lever 55 is arranged on the rear side of the tilting-sidesupporting member 53. As shown in FIG. 13, the fixing lever 55 assumes aV-shape with a left grip 55 a on the left side and a right grip 55 b onthe right side when viewed from the user coupled to each other at thelower ends thereof. In the case of this example, the left and rightgrips 55 a and 55 b are coupled to each other at an angle ofapproximately 80° as shown in FIG. 13. Both the left and right grips 55a and 55 b have a length that the user is able to grip easily with onehand. A fixing screw 56 is mounted to a coupled portion between both thegrips 55 a and 55 b. The angle formed between both the grips 55 a and 55b may be set arbitrarily within a range from 60° to 100°, in addition tothe angle of approximately 80° described above. As described later, anangle of 60° or larger formed between both the grips 55 a and 55 bensures the easy visibility of both the grips 55 a and 55 b from theuser and allows the user to grip one of them easily. An angle of 100° orsmaller ensures prevention of interference of one of the grips with afloor or the ground when rotating the other grip.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing screw 56 penetrates through thetilting-side supporting member 53 and is screwed into the fixed-sidesupporting member 52. The fixing screw 56 is arranged below the lateraltilt shaft 51 in parallel thereto at a certain distance therefrom. Whenthe fixing lever 55 is turned to the tightening direction (for example,clockwise in FIG. 13), the fixing screw 56 is tightened with respect tothe fixed-side supporting member 52 to fix the tilting-side supportingmember 53 so as not to be able to rotate with respect to each other,whereby the cutting machine body 10 is fixed at the oblique position orthe right-angle position. When the fixing lever 55 is turned in theloosening direction (for example, counterclockwise in FIG. 13) by anadequate angle (for example, about 30°), the fixing screw 56 is loosenedwith respect to the fixed-side supporting member 52 and, consequently,the tilting-side supporting member 53 is brought into a state of beingcapable of rotating with respect to the fixed-side supporting member 52,which allows the cutting machine body 10 to tilt leftward or rightward.

The fixing lever 55 in this example is easy to tilt either in thetightening direction or in the loosening direction by gripping one ofthe left and right grips 55 a and 55 b. Therefore, if the user isright-handed, he/she is able to tilt the fixing lever 55 easily byreaching out with his/her right hand to the rear side of the bodysupporting member 40 via the right side of the cutting machine 1 andgripping the right grip 55 b. In contrast, if the user is left-handed,he/she is able to tilt the fixing lever 55 easily by reaching out withhis/her left hand to the rear side of the body supporting member 40 viathe left side of the cutting machine 1 and gripping the left grip 55 a.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the fixing lever 55 is firmly tightened(obliquely fixed state), a state in which the tilting-side supportingmember 53 is fixed with respect to the fixed-side supporting member 52,and a state in which the cutting machine body 10 is fixed in terms ofthe lateral tilt position. As shown in the drawing, in this obliquelyfixed state, a state of attaching the fixing screw 56 with respect tothe fixing lever 55 is adequately set so as to achieve a state in whichthe left and right grips 55 a and 55 b are inclined at the substantiallysame angle leftward and rightward with respect to the supporting armportion 57. Therefore, the user is able to view both the left and rightgrips 55 a and 55 b easily and is able to grip both the left and rightgrips 55 a and 55 b easily by reaching out with the left hand or theright hand to the rear side.

With the exemplified V-shaped fixing lever 55, since the left and rightgrips 55 a and 55 b protrude leftward and rightward with respect to thesupporting arm portion 57, respectively, the user is able to view easilyand is able to grip in a comfortable posture.

Further, with the fixing lever 55 in this embodiment, the two grips 55 aand 55 b are arranged in a V-shape extending upward from a head of thefixing screw 56, and hence there is no portion protruding downward.Also, since the fixing screw 56 functions sufficiently by being rotatedin the tightening direction or the loosening direction by approximately30°, the fixing lever 55 needs not to be rotated to a position where thegrips 55 a and 55 b protrude downward from the fixing screw 56.Therefore, in the exemplified fixing lever 55, since the sufficientlength of the respective grips 55 a and 55 b which allows the user togrip easily is secured, and they are coupled in the V-shape openingupward, the problems as in the related art do not occur.

Subsequently, FIG. 14 shows the inclined angle display device 60 fordisplaying the lateral position or inclination of the cutting machinebody 10 in detail.

The inclined angle display device 60 in this example includes a firstangle scale 61 mounted to the fixed-side supporting member 52 and asecond angle scale 62 mounted to the tilt supporting member 53. Thefirst angle scale 61 in this embodiment is displayed on a sheetmaterial, which is attached along the peripheral surface of thefixed-side supporting member 52. Therefore, scale markings of the firstangle scale 61 are displayed substantially in parallel to the centeraxis of tilting movement of the cutting machine body 10 (the axial lineof the tilt shaft 51), and are adapted to be legible mainly from above(visibility from above). The first angle scale 61 includes scalemarkings displayed thereon at every 5° in angle of inclination of thecutting machine body 10. A first indicator 63 for reading the firstangle scale 61 is mounted to the tilt supporting member 53.

The second angle scale 62 is displayed on a substantially fan-shapedscale panel 62 a as shown in the drawing. The scale panel 62 a ismounted from the front so as to protrude radially upward along the upperportion of the tilt supporting member 53. Therefore, the scale markingsof the second angle scale 62 are displayed along the radial directionwith respect to the center axis of the tilting movement of the cuttingmachine body 10 (the axial line of the tilt shaft 51), and are adaptedto be legible mainly from the front (visibility from the front).

When the mounting precision of the second angle scale 62 with respect tothe front surface of the upper portion of the tilting-side supportingmember 53 and the mounting precision of the first angle scale 61 withrespect to the outer peripheral surface of the fixed-side supportingmember 52 are compared, the latter is able to be attached at a highermounting precision. In the former case, since the scale panel isgenerally formed of a metal plate or a sheet material and is attached onthe front surface of the tilting-side supporting member 53, thepositional precision (mounting precision) with respect to the lateraltilt shaft 51 is more difficult to be ensured at the time of assembly.In contrast, in the latter case, since the first angle scale 61 isattached on the peripheral surface of the fixed-side supporting member52, assembly with the high precise positioning and the concentricity ofthe first angle scale 61 with respect to the lateral tilt shaft 51 iseasily achieved at the time of assembly by being attached along theperipheral surface thereof as long as the peripheral surface of thefixed-side supporting member 52 is manufactured at a high degree ofprecision in terms of position and concentricity with respect to thelateral tilt shaft 51.

The second angle scale 62 is arranged on the outer peripheral side whichis spaced more from the tilt shaft 51 in the radial direction than thefirst angle scale 61 and hence the pitch of the scale markings for thecorresponding angles is larger than the pitch of the first angle scale61. Therefore, in the case of the second angle scale 62 in this example,the scale markings are displayed at an increment of 1° for the angle ofinclination of the cutting machine body 10, and the sufficientvisibility is ensured for the respective scale markings. A secondindicator 64 for reading the second angle scale 62 is mounted to thefixed-side supporting member 52.

In this manner, the inclined angle display device 60 in this embodimentis largely characterized in that the first angle scale 61 is on theradially inner peripheral side and the second angle scale 62 is on theradially outer peripheral side with respect to the center of tiltingmovement of the cutting machine body 10 (the lateral tilt shaft 51). Theprecision in mounting position of the first angle scale 61 is higherthan that of the second angle scale 62, while the display precision inscale markings of the second angle scale 62 is higher (the finer angulardisplay) than that of the first angle scale 61.

In addition, since the second angle scale 62 whose scale markings aredisplayed with finer display precision is legible mainly from the frontand the first angle scale 61 is legible mainly from above, theuser-friendliness is remarkably improved in that both the angular scales61 and 62 may be selectively used depending on the operating posture ofthe user, or depending on the precision required for the angle ofinclination of the cutting machine body 10. In particular, since theuser may obliquely look down at the first angle scale 61, the user isable to view in a comfortable posture, and hence a superior visibilityis achieved.

As shown in the drawing, the second angle scale 62 includes angles ofinclination of 22.5° and 33.9° which are useful for some cuttingoperation in addition to the scale markings of 0°, 15°, 30° and 45° onboth leftward and rightward respectively in the indications of numericalvalues.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, the second indicator 64 includes asecondary scale indicated thereon. As regards the second angle scale 62as a primary scale, for example, two secondary scale markings of 0.5 atpitches of 0.9°, which is an angle obtained by dividing 9° equally by10, for example, and a reference line zero are indicated on the secondindicator 64. Therefore, the angle of inclination of the cutting machinebody 10 is adapted to be read precisely at pitches of 0.5° with thesecond angle scale 62.

The supporting arm portion 57 is provided on top of the fixed-sidesupporting member 53 so as to extend upward. An upper slide mechanism 42is provided on top of the supporting arm portion 57. The upper slidemechanism 42 includes a pair of left and right upper slide bars 43 and43 extending in parallel to each other. Both the upper slide bars 43 and43 are supported by the bearings 44 so as to be slidable in thefore-and-aft direction. Both the bearings 44 and 44 are held by abearing holder 45 provided on top of the supporting arm portion 57.Front ends of both the upper slide bars 43 and 43 are coupled to eachother by a tilting bracket 46. The cutting machine body 10 is supportedby the tilting bracket 46 via the vertical tilt shaft 11 so as to becapable of tilting in the vertical direction. Rear ends of both theslide bars 43 and 43 are coupled to each other by a connecting bracket47. Therefore, the upper slide bars 43 and 43 slide integrally in thefore-and-aft direction in a state of being fixed in parallel to eachother. The cutting machine body 10 slides in the fore-and-aft directionin association with the fore-and-aft sliding movement of both the slidebars 43 and 43. As shown in FIG. 6, an upper slide fixing screw 48 isprovided on the side portion of the bearing holder 45. When the upperslide fixing screw 48 is tightened, both the upper slide bars 43 and 43are unslidably fixed to the bearing holder 45, so that the slidingmovement of the cutting machine body 10 by the upper slide mechanism 42is brought into a locked state. By loosening the upper slide fixingscrew 48, the cutting machine body 10 is allowed to slide in thefore-and-aft direction by the upper slide mechanism 42.

In this manner, with the body supporting member 40 including the upperand lower sliding mechanisms 41 and 42 at two levels and the lateraltilt supporting mechanism 50, the cutting machine body 10 is supportedso as to be capable of sliding in a stroke which is long in thefore-and-aft direction and to be capable of tilting movement in thelateral direction independently from this sliding movement.

The upper slide mechanism 42 includes an intermediate stopper mechanism70 for constraining the retracting operation (rearmost sliding position)of the cutting machine body 10 at a midpoint of the entire sliding rangeintegrated therein. The intermediate stopper mechanism 70 is illustratedin FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 in detail. The intermediate stopper mechanism 70includes a stopper body 71 mounted to one of the upper slide bars 43.The stopper body 71 includes an annular supporting portion 71 a whichallows insertion of the upper slide bar 43 in a state of being capableof rotating with respect to each other without rattling or obstruction,a stopper shaft portion 71 b and a switch lever portion 71 c providedintegrally with the periphery of the annular supporting portion 71 a,respectively.

As shown in FIG. 10, the stopper body 71 is held so as to be capable ofturning within a certain angular range about the an axis of the upperslide bar 43 at a position in which the annular supporting portion 71 ais accommodated in the inner peripheral side of the tilting bracket 46and the upper slide bar 43 is inserted on the inner peripheral side ofthe annular supporting portion 71 a (between the tilting bracket 46 andthe upper slide bar 43). A fitting screw 72 is tightened at an upperportion of the tilting bracket 46. The annular supporting portion 71 ais held so as to be capable of turning in a certain range about theaxial line of the upper slide bar 43, but not to be capable of moving inthe axial direction by the engagement of the distal end portion of thefitting screw 72 with the annular supporting portion 71 a.

The stopper shaft portion 71 b is provided so as to extend in parallelto the upper slide bar 43 and rearward via an arm portion 71 d extendingradially outwardly from the annular supporting portion 71 a. The switchlever portion 71 c is arranged so as to be capable of being moved in acertain angular range radially on the outside of the tilting bracket 46.Rotating the switch lever portion 71 c at a certain angle about theaxial line of the upper slide bar 43 allows the annular supportingportion 71 a to rotate at a certain angle coaxially, thereby allowingthe stopper shaft portion 71 b to rotate and move in the verticaldirection within a certain range.

The stopper shaft portion 71 b retracts integrally with the retractingmovement of the cutting machine body 10. Abutment of the rear endportion of the stopper shaft portion 71 b with a center rib 45 a of thebearing holder 45 restrains the retracting movement of the cuttingmachine body 10 at a midpoint of the entire sliding range of the upperslide mechanism 42. As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, three ribs (upperrib 45 a, center rib 45 b, lower rib 45 c) are provided on the frontportion of the bearing holder 45 substantially in parallel andequidistantly in the vertical direction.

When the cutting machine body 10 is retracted in a state in which theswitch lever portion 71 c is moved to the intermediate locking position(downward in this embodiment), the stopper shaft portion 71 b comes intoabutment with the front end surface of the center rib 45 b from amongthe three ribs 45 a, 45 b and 45 c and hence the retracting movement isrestrained, whereby the cutting machine body 10 is brought into a statein which the retracting movement thereof is restrained at a midpointwithin the entire sliding range of the upper slide mechanism 42. Incontrast, when the switch lever portion 71 c is moved to an unlockedposition (upward in this embodiment), the stopper shaft portion 71 bmoves downward from the abutted position as shown by a double-dashedline in FIG. 12. Therefore, when the cutting machine body 10 isretracted in this state, the stopper shaft portion 71 b enters a spacebetween the center rib 45 b and the lower rib 45 c. In this state, theretracting movement of the stopper shaft portion 71 b is not restrained,and hence the cutting machine body 10 is allowed to slide to a rearmostposition of the sliding movement within the entire sliding range of theupper slide mechanism 42. The function of the intermediate stoppermechanism 70 will be described later.

The cutting machine body 10 is supported at a distal end side of thebody supporting member 40 above the table 20 in a state of being capableof tilting in the vertical direction about the vertical tilt shaft 11.As shown in FIG. 6, the cutting machine body 10 is provided with thecircular rotary blade 12 which is rotated by the electric motor 16arranged on the rear side (right side when viewed from the user). Theelectric motor 16 is mounted in a posture inclined in the direction inwhich the rear end side is displaced upward. The rotary blade 12 ismounted to the distal end portion of the spindle 18 by a mounting flange17.

The upper portion of the rotary blade 12 is always covered with thefixed cover 13. The rear end portion of the fixed cover 13 is supportedby the tilting bracket 46 of the upper slide mechanism 42 so as to becapable of tilting in the vertical direction via the vertical tilt shaft11. The electric motor 16 is mounted on the rear side of the fixed cover13. The rear portion of the fixed cover 13 is provided with a dustcollecting port 19 for mounting a dust box for collecting dust.

The lower portion of the rotary blade 12 is covered with a movable cover14 which is opened and closed in association with the vertical movementof the cutting machine body 10. The movable cover 14 is opened andclosed by the relative displacement of the link lever 23 in associationwith the vertical movement of the cutting machine body 10. The rear endportion of the link lever 23 is supported by the front portion of thetilting bracket 46 via a shaft 24 so as to be capable of turning in thevertical direction. The approximate midpoint of the link lever 23 (interms of the longitudinal direction thereof) is provided with anarc-shaped relief groove 23 b. An engaging shaft 25 provided on thefixed cover 13 is inserted in the relief groove 23 b so as to berelatively displaceable. A front end portion 23 a of the link lever 23is in abutment with an abutment wall portion 14 a provided on themovable cover 14. The link lever 23 provided in this manner tilts in thevertical direction in association with the vertical movement of thecutting machine body 10. When the link lever 23 tilts downward inassociation with the downward movement of the cutting machine body 10,the front end portion 23 a thereof presses the abutment wall portion 14a while displacing around the center of turn of the movable cover 14, sothat the movable cover 14 is gradually opened. In contrast, when thelink lever 23 tilts upward in association with the upward movement ofthe cutting machine body 10 and the front end portion 23 b is displacedin the opposite direction around the center of turn of the movable cover14, the abutment wall portion 14 a is not pressed by the front endportion 23 a in the opening direction, and hence the movable cover 14 isclosed by its own weight and an urging force in the closing direction.

The electric motor 16 is provided with a handle portion 15 which allowsthe user to grip on the side portion of the front side thereof. In thecase of the embodiment, the handle portion 15 is provided in the lateraldirection so as to extend leftward and rightward (the direction alongthe axis of rotation of the rotary blade 12).

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a rear edge portion 13 b of the fixedcover 13 on the rear side of the spindle 18 is recessed upward by adimension L with respect to the front edge portion 13 a thereof whichcorresponds to the end on the opening side and on the front side of thespindle 18. Hereinafter, the rear edge portion 13 b of the fixed cover13, which is recessed upward by the dimension L is also referred to asthe relief portion 13 b of the fixed cover 13. With the position of therelief portion 13 b on the rear side, the range of height of the rotaryblade 12, which is disposed from the rear side (the cutting depth), isincreased.

With the configuration in which the cutting depth on the rear side ofthe spindle 18 (the center of rotation of the rotary blade 12) isincreased in this manner, downward movement to the lowermost position isachieved without interference with the positioning fence 32 beingrelatively high from the table 20, whereby the cutting operation of thecut material W1 by a large cutting depth is achieved by placing the cutmaterial W1 so as to lean obliquely against the positioning surface 32 aof the positioning fence 32 as shown in the drawing, or by placing thecut material W2 upright along the positioning surface 32 a.

Also, with the arrangement of the relief portion 13 b on the fixed cover13, even when the cutting machine body 10 is moved upward to fully closethe movable cover 14, part of the peripheral edge (cutting edge) of therotary blade 12 is covered neither with the fixed cover 13 nor themovable cover 14 at the relief portion 13 b. In this configuration, partof the cutting edge of the rotary blade 12 which is covered neither withthe fixed cover 13 nor the movable cover 14 is adapted to be covered byan auxiliary cover 80.

As shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary cover 80 is supported inside the fixedcover 13. The auxiliary cover 80 is supported by the fixed cover 13 in astate of being capable of tilting in the vertical direction via a shaft81. The auxiliary cover 80 is urged in the direction to rotate downward(closing side, clockwise in FIG. 5) by a torsion spring 82 interposedbetween the auxiliary cover 80 and the fixed cover 13. FIG. 7 to FIG. 9illustrate the auxiliary cover 80 as a single unit.

The auxiliary cover 80 includes a pair of left and right shielding edges83 and 84. Both the shielding edges 83 and 84 are coupled to each otherin parallel by partitioning walls 85 and 86 at two points, that is, at amidpoint and a point near the rear end portion in terms of thelongitudinal direction thereof. As shown in FIG. 9, on the inner surfaceof the left shielding edge 83 (when viewed from the user) is providedwith a guiding wall portion 87 so as to extend from an approximatemidpoint of the partitioning wall 85. A dust colleting channel 88 isdefined by the front and rear partitioning walls 85 and 86 and theguiding wall portion 87. The upper portion of the dust colleting channel88 is directed toward a dust collecting port 19 at the time of cuttingoperation carried out by the downward movement of the cutting machinebody 10 as shown in FIG. 5. In this manner, the auxiliary cover 80 has afunction for guiding (correcting) chips generated by the cuttingoperation toward the dust collecting port 19. The guiding wall portion87, defined continuously from the partitioning wall 85, is formed into ashape extending into an angular shape in cross section, and a inclinedsurface 87 a on the front side thereof (the left inclined surface inFIG. 9) is formed in a more gradual angle in comparison with theinclined surface on the rear side. With this gradually inclined surface87 a, the chips blown upward from the cutting portion are collected moresmoothly and reliably into the dust colleting channel 88. The dustcolleting channel 88 formed between both the partitioning walls 85 and86 is curved obliquely rearward and upward, and the dust collecting port19 is arranged to extend therefrom. In this configuration as well, theefficiency of dust collection is improved.

The front portion of the auxiliary cover 80 with respect to thepartitioning wall 85 on the distal end side of the tilting movementincludes both the shielding edges 83 and 84 protruding forward inparallel to each other in a bifurcated shape. As shown in FIG. 8, thecutting edge of the rotary blade 12 can enter between both the shieldingedges 83 and 84 formed into the bifurcated shape to achieve theshielding thereof.

The shielding edge 84 (which is the right side when viewed from theuser) is provided with a restraining shaft 89 on the outer surfacethereof so as to project sideward. The restraining shaft 89 is insertedinto an arc-shaped restraining groove 13 c formed on the rear side ofthe fixed cover 13 (the right side portion when viewed from the user) soas to be displaceable with respect to each other as shown in FIG. 6. Theauxiliary cover 80 is adapted to be able to turn in the verticaldirection within a range in which the restraining shaft 89 isdisplaceable in the restraining groove 13 c, whereby the uppermostposition (opened position) and the lowermost position (closed position)of the auxiliary cover 80 are restrained. As shown in FIG. 7, theoutside surface of the shielding edge 83 on the left side is providedwith an engaging projection 83 a. Correspondingly, the link lever 23 isprovided with a restraining projection 23 c on the side portion thereofso as to protrude sideward as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. In a state inwhich the cutting machine body 10 is located at the uppermost positionas a waiting position as shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary cover 80 is heldat a closed position at the lowermost side by the urging force of thespring. In this state, the restraining projection 23 c of the link lever23 is located above the engaging projection 83 a. Therefore, turn of theauxiliary cover 80 in the opening direction is restrained, so that theauxiliary cover 80 is reliably held at the closing position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, when the cutting machine body 10is moved downward, the link lever 23 tilts downward accordingly.Therefore, the restraining projection 23 c is retracted from above theengaging projection 83 a toward the front, whereby the auxiliary cover80 is brought into a state of being capable of turning upward toward theopened position. However, as described later, the auxiliary cover 80 isheld at the closed position by the torsion spring 82 unless theauxiliary cover 80 interferes with the cutting material W or thepositioning fence 32 during the cutting operation. As shown in FIG. 3,when the cutting machine body 10 is slid rearward by the upper and lowersliding mechanisms 41 and 42 in the two levels and, in the course of thesliding movement, the lower end portion of the auxiliary cover 80interferes with the upper portion of the cutting material W or thepositioning fence 23, and the cutting machine body 10 is continuouslyslid rearward in this interfered state, whereby the auxiliary cover 80is opened upward against the torsion spring 82.

The lower end portion of the auxiliary cover 80 is formed into anangular shape protruded downward as shown in the drawing. A top 80 a ofthe lower end portion is arranged near the end portion of the guidingwall portion 87. Hereinafter, the front side of the auxiliary cover 80with respect to the top 80 a (the left side in FIG. 9) is referred to asa front lower end 80 b, and the rear side thereof with respect to thetop 80 a (the right side in FIG. 9) is referred to as a rear lower end80 c. Both the lower ends 80 b and 80 c each are formed into a flatshape, and extend to each other to the top 80 a at an obtuse angle. Thetop 80 a, the front and rear lower ends 80 b and 80 c are constituted inthe same manner for both the left and right shielding edges 83 and 84.

When the cutting machine body 10 is positioned at the uppermost positionas shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary cover 80 is in a state of being lockedat the closed position. In this state, the lowermost position (closedposition) of the auxiliary cover 80 is further adequately set by theposition of the restraining groove 23 b or the like so that the rearlower end 80 c of the auxiliary cover 80 extends substantially inparallel (horizontal) with respect to the upper surface of the table 20.On the other hand, at this time, the front lower end 80 b of theauxiliary cover 80 enters inside the movable cover 14 and is positionedat the end portion of the movable cover 14. Accordingly, the entirecircumference of the rotary blade 12 is substantially completely coveredwith the fixed cover 13, the movable cover 14 and the auxiliary cover 80without exposing the rotary blade 12 to the outside.

In the state in which the auxiliary cover 80 is positioned at the closedposition described above, the front lower end 80 b is positionedsubstantially in parallel to the rear edge portion 13 b of the fixedcover 13. The closed position of the auxiliary cover 80 is restrained bythe abutment of restraining shaft 89 with the lower end portion of therestraining groove 13 c as shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6, the auxiliary cover 80 is not opened bythe downward movement of the cutting machine body 10, and is maintainedat the closed position over the entire range of the vertical movementthereof. Therefore, even when the cutting machine body 10 is located atthe lowermost position and hence the movable cover 14 is completelyopened as shown in FIG. 2, it is held at the closed position by thetorsion spring 82. However, in this state, the restraining projection 23c of the link lever 23 is retracted from above the engaging projection83 a and the locked state is released, whereby the auxiliary cover 80 isin a state of being capable of turning toward the opened position(upward).

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6, when the cutting machine body 10 is moveddownward substantially to the lowermost position in a state of beingslid to the frontmost side (the near side of the user) by the upper andlower sliding mechanisms 41 and 42 and then the cutting machine body 10is slid rearward by the operation of the upper and lower slidingmechanism 41 and 42, the rotary blade 12 cuts into the cut material W2to achieve the cutting operation thereof.

When the cutting machine body 10 is slid rearward and hence the cuttingoperation proceeds, the rear lower end 80 c of the auxiliary cover 80interferes with the cut material W2 or the upper portion of thepositioning fence 32, and the cutting machine body 10 is slid furtherrearward in this state, so that the auxiliary cover 80 is pressed upwardand opened. In this manner, the front lower end 80 b is orientedhorizontally when the auxiliary cover 80 is at the closed position, andhence the rear lower end 80 c is positioned in an inclined state inwhich the rear side is higher and serves as a guiding inclined surface,thereby opening smoothly in association with the rearward slidingmovement of the cutting machine body 10.

In the intermediate stopper mechanism 70, in a state in which the switchlever portion 71 c is switched to the intermediate locked position, therearward sliding distance of the cutting machine body 10 is restrainedto the midpoint. A state in which the rearward sliding distance of thecutting machine body 10 is restrained to the midpoint of the entiresliding distance (via the upper and lower sliding mechanisms 41 and 42)by the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 is shown in FIG. 3. As shown inthe drawing, the stopper shaft portion 71 b of the intermediate stoppermechanism 70 abuts against the center rib 45 b and the retractingdistance of the cutting machine body 10 is restrained to the midpoint,so that the cut material W2 (placed so as to lean obliquely between thepositioning fence 32 and the table 20) is completely cut off by therotary blade 12, and interference of the protruded portion 13 d of thefixed cover 13 with respect to the cut material W2 is avoided inadvance, whereby damage of the cutting material W is avoided in advance.In the state of being restrained to the midpoint, the top 80 a of theauxiliary cover 80 passes from the front side to the rear side withrespect to the positioning fence 32, and the front lower end 80 bthereof is restrained to a state of moving halfway on the upper end ofthe positioning fence 32. Accordingly, the intermediate stoppermechanism 70 is settled in a state in which the front lower end 80 b ofthe auxiliary cover 80 is moving halfway on the upper end portion of thepositioning fence 32, where the entire auxiliary cover 80 functions foravoiding the rearward movement of the positioning fence 32. In thismanner, with the arrangement of the intermediate stopper mechanism 70,since the entire auxiliary cover 80 is prevented from moving to the rearside of the positioning fence 32, the auxiliary cover 80 is abuttedagainst the back surface of the fence 32 in the stage of returning thecutting machine body 10 to the front side and, consequently, the forwardsliding operation of the cutting machine body 10 is avoided from beinghindered in advance.

Further, in a state in which the switch lever 71 c of the intermediatestopper mechanism 70 is switched to the unlocked position in advance,the cutting machine body 10 is allowed to be slid to the rearmostposition in the entire sliding range by the upper and lower slidingmechanisms 41 and 42 as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, for example, byplacing the cut material W2 (of a flat board shape) upright along thepositioning plane 32 a of the positioning fence 32 with the widthwisedirection thereof oriented in the vertical direction as shown in thedrawing, which is different from the case of the cut material W1, thecutting operation is achieved in a state of being fixed with asignificant height. When the cutting machine body 10 is slid to therearmost position in the entire sliding range, the rotary blade 12 ispassed completely through the lower end of the positioning surface 32 a,so that the rotary blade 12 can completely cut off the lower end portionof the cut material W2, whereby the cutting operation thereof isreliably achieved. In this regards, when the rearward sliding distanceof the cutting machine body 10 is retrained to a midpoint thereof by theintermediate stopper mechanism 70 as shown in FIG. 3, even when therotary blade 12 does not pass completely on the side of the lowerportion of the positioning surface 32 a, it is not a cause for concernbecause in this situation the cutting operation is for cutting materialW1 in the state of being placed obliquely (so as to lean against theupper surface of the table and the positioning fence 32).

The rearmost position of the entire sliding range is set so as toprevent the height of the protruded portion 13 d of the fixed cover 13from interfering with the high cut material W2 or the positioning fence32 even when the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 is released to theunlocked side and the cutting machine body 10 is able to slide to therearmost position of the entire sliding range.

When the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 is switched to the unlockedside, and the cutting machine body 10 is able to slide to the rearmostposition of the entire sliding range, the entire auxiliary cover 80 ismoved to the rear side of the fence 32 as shown in FIG. 4. Consequently,the front lower end 80 b moves apart from the upper end portion of thepositioning fence 32 to the rear, and the auxiliary cover 80 is returnedto the closed position by the urging force of the torsion spring 82. Inthis case, interference of the auxiliary cover 80 with respect to thepositioning fence 32 may be avoided by moving the cutting machine body10 upward first and then sliding the same toward the front.

Although it is not shown in the drawing, by additionally providing theauxiliary cover 80 with a guiding surface which is inclined in thedirection to cause the auxiliary cover 80 to turn toward the openedposition when interfered with the upper portion of the positioning fence32 at the time of the forward sliding movement of the cutting machinebody 10, the cutting machine body 10 is allowed to be returned to thefront side in the state of being positioned at the lowermost positionwhile avoiding obstruction of the auxiliary cover 80 with respect to theback surface of the positioning fence 32.

The detailed configuration of the auxiliary cover 80 will be summarizedhere.

(Arrangement of Auxiliary Cover 80)

(1) The auxiliary cover 80 moves integrally with the cutting machinebody 10 from in front of the positioning fence 32 (the position shown inFIG. 2) to a position where it is entirely passed therethrough to therear (the position shown in FIG. 4) over the entire sliding range of thecutting machine body 10.(2) With the configuration of the intermediate stopper mechanism 70, therearmost position of the auxiliary cover 80 does not pass completelythrough the positioning fence 32 but the front lower end 80 b thereof isrestrained to a position halfway on the upper end portion of thepositioning fence 32 (the position shown in FIG. 3).(3) In the state in which the front lower end 80 b of the auxiliarycover 80 is approximately halfway on the upper end portion of thepositioning fence 32, the front lower end 80 b is inclined in thedirection in which the front side is higher as shown in FIG. 3.Consequently, when the cutting machine body 10 is returned to the frontside from this state, the auxiliary cover 80 is turned to the openedside (upper side) against the torsion spring 82, so that the forwardsliding movement of the cutting machine body 10 is smoothly achieved.(4) The rear lower end 80 c of the auxiliary cover 80 functions as theguiding surface against the positioning fence 32 when retracting thecutting machine body 10 as described above.(5) The auxiliary cover 80 is supported inside the fixed cover 13.Therefore, the auxiliary cover 80 is stored inside the fixed cover 13when being turned to the upper opened position. Accordingly,interference of the auxiliary cover 80 with the cutting material W orthe positioning fence 32 is avoided during the oblique cutting operationcarried out with the cutting machine body 10 inclined leftward orrightward.(6) When the auxiliary cover 80 is in the closed position, the frontlower end 80 b is positioned substantially horizontally, and isprotruded to the substantially same level as, or to a lower level than,the front edge portion 13 a of the fixed cover 13. Accordingly, theauxiliary cover 80 is provided with a higher dust collecting function.

Further, turning the end of the auxiliary cover 80 toward the openedposition allows for a position entirely set or stored inside the fixedcover 13. Therefore, the auxiliary cover 80 is able to turn until thetop 80 a thereof is displaced upwardly of the rear edge portion 13 b ofthe fixed cover 13. Accordingly, the auxiliary cover 80 is preventedfrom hindering the sliding operation of the cutting machine body 10.Also, the cutting depth increasing function of the rear edge portion 13b, which is recessed upward by the dimension L with respect to the frontedge portion 13 a, reliably functions.

(Shape of Auxiliary Cover 80)

(7) The lower portion of the auxiliary cover 80 is formed into anangular shape protruding downward. The front lower end 80 b and the rearlower end 80 c are formed on the front side and the rear side of the top80 a, respectively, and each function as a guiding surface against thepositioning fence 32 or the cutting material W when sliding the cuttingmachine body 10 as described above.(8) The width of the auxiliary cover 80 is set to a width smaller thanthat of the movable cover 14. Therefore, when the cutting machine body10 is positioned at the uppermost position, the movable cover 14 isfully closed and the auxiliary cover 80 is positioned in the closedposition as shown in FIG. 1, the front lower end 80 b of the auxiliarycover 80 enters inside the movable cover 14.

In this manner, since the width of the auxiliary cover 80 is set to thewidth smaller than that of the movable cover 14, at the time of theoblique cutting operation carried out by inclining the cutting machinebody 10 leftward or rightward as described above, interference of theauxiliary cover 80 with the cutting material W or the positioning fence32 is avoided, and hence the oblique cutting operation can be achievedat a sufficiently large angle.

(9) The lateral distance between the rotary blade 12 and the leftshielding edge 83 of the auxiliary cover 80 is larger than the distancebetween the rotary blade 12 and the right shielding edge 84 of theauxiliary cover 80. Thus, when rotary blade 12 is removed, the leftshielding edge 83 does not interfere with rotary blade 12.(10) As shown in FIG. 2, in the course of sliding the cutting machinebody 10 rearward in a state of being positioned at the lowermostposition, there is no fixed portion of the cutting machine body 10 thatprotrudes downwardly of the front lower end portion 13 a of the fixedcover 13 (at a position on the rear side of the auxiliary cover 80).Accordingly, a larger cutting depth is reliably achieved in the area onthe rear side of the center of rotation of the rotary blade 12 (themounting flange 17) than in the front area.(Operation of Auxiliary Cover 80)(11) In a state of placing the cutting machine body 10 at the uppermostposition, the auxiliary cover 80 is locked to the closed position. Inthis example, the restraining projection 23 c is provided on the linklever 23 for opening and closing the movable cover 14 and the engagingprojection 83 a is provided on the auxiliary cover 80, so that theupward (in the opening direction) turn of the auxiliary cover 80 isrestrained and hence the auxiliary cover 80 is locked at the closedposition by positioning the engaging projection 83 a downwardly of therestraining projection 23 c.

Since the auxiliary cover 80 is locked to the closed position at theuppermost position of the cutting machine body 10, the accidentalopening operation of the auxiliary cover 80 is reliably prevented.

(12) The auxiliary cover 80 is supported with respect to the fixed cover13 via the shaft 81 so as to be capable of turning in the verticaldirection. The auxiliary cover 80 is opened by being turned upward, andis closed by being turned downward. The auxiliary cover 80 is supportedby the shaft 81 at the rear end portion thereof so as to be capable ofturning. The movable cover 14, may be configured to support the same soas to be capable of turning in the vertical direction about the frontend portion. The auxiliary cover is not limited to the configuration toturn in the vertical direction, and an auxiliary cover which movesbetween the closed position and the opened position by moving inparallel in the vertical direction is also applicable.(13) The auxiliary cover 80 is urged by the torsion spring 82 toward theclosed position (downward). By employing the torsion spring as theurging means, a compact configuration is achieved by using the shaft 81.An extension spring, a compression spring, or a damper may be usedinstead of the torsion spring 82 to urge the auxiliary cover 80 to theclosed position.(14) As exemplified above, in addition to the configuration in which therestraining groove 13 c is provided on the fixed cover 13, and therestraining shaft 89 is provided on the auxiliary cover 80, so that theopened position of the auxiliary cover 80 is restrained by the abutmentof the restraining shaft 89 against the upper end of the restraininggroove 13 c and the closed position of the auxiliary cover 80 isrestrained by the abutment of the restraining shaft 89 against the lowerend of the restraining groove 13 c, a configuration in which stopperprojections for restraining the opened position and for restraining theclosed position respectively are provided on the fixed cover 13, so thatthe opened position and the closed position of the auxiliary cover arerestrained, is also applicable.(Dust Collection Function of Auxiliary Cover)(15) The exemplified auxiliary cover 80 includes the dust colletingchannel 88. The dust colleting channel 88 is positioned between theportion where the chips are generated (mainly the rear side of therotary blade 12) and the dust collecting port 19, so that the generatedchips are guided to the dust collecting port 19 further reliably andcollected efficiently.(16) The dust colleting channel 88 is formed between the partitioningwalls 85 and 86. The front partitioning wall 85 may be adapted tofunction as a wall portion for preventing the generated chipsinteracting along the direction of rotation of the rotary blade 12.(17) The guiding wall portion 87, having the gentle inclined surface 87a on the front side, is continuously provided on the lower side of thefront partitioning wall 85. The chips generated at the cutting positionare smoothly guided into the dust colleting channel 88 with the inclinedsurface 87 a on the front side of the guiding wall portion 87.(18) As shown in FIG. 5, the dust collecting port 19 is arranged toextend from the dust colleting channel 88 that is curved obliquely andupward on the rear side. Accordingly, the dust collecting efficiency mayfurther be enhanced.

According to the table cutting machine 1 in the embodiment configured asdescribed above, the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 is provided forrestraining the retracting movement (sliding movement in a cuttingproceeding direction) at the midpoint of the entire sliding distance forthe fore-and-aft sliding movement of the cutting machine body 10.

The intermediate stopper mechanism 70 can avoid damage to the cuttingmaterial W by the mounting flange 17 for fixing the rotary blade 12 bysetting the sliding distance along the cutting proceeding direction(toward the rear side) of the cutting machine body 10, which isrestricted by the intermediate stopper mechanism 70, to such a distancethat the mounting flange 17 for the rotary blade 12 stops beforecontacting the cutting material W.

Thus, in the case that the rear edge portion 13 b of the fixed cover 13is retracted upward by a distance L to increase a cutting depth of therotary blade 12 in order to enable cutting of a cutting material Whaving a relatively large size in height, there is a possibility thatthe cutting material W may be damaged due to interference of themounting flange 17 for fixing the rotary blade 12 to the spindle 18, orthe like with the cutting material W when the cutting machine body 10 isslidably moved in the cutting direction. However, according to thisembodiment, such interference of the mounting flange 17 with the cuttingmaterial W can be automatically avoided by the intermediate stoppermechanism 20. Therefore, the operator can carry out the cuttingoperation without taking care of the interference. In this respect, itis possible to improve the operability of the cutting device 1.

Further, according to the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 exemplifiedabove, by simply operating the switch lever portion 71 c, it is possibleto easily switch between the state in which a slidable range of thecutting machine body 10 along forward and rearward directionscorresponds to the entire sliding range allowed by the upper slidingmechanism 42, and the midpoint stop state in which the rearward slidingdistance is stopped at the midpoint. Therefore, the operability of theintermediate stopper mechanism 70 is improved in this respect.

The embodiment described thus far may be modified in various manners.For example, although the configuration in which the stopper body 71 issupported on the side of the tilting bracket 46, which corresponds tothe sliding side, and the stopper shaft portion 71 b is brought intoabutment with the bearing holder 45 side, which corresponds to thesliding movement supporting side is exemplified as the intermediatestopper mechanism, the configuration in which the amount of slidingmovement of the cutting machine body 10 is restrained by providing thestopper body on the sliding movement supporting side in contrast andbringing the stopper shaft portion into abutment with the sliding sideis also applicable.

The intermediate stopper mechanism may be applied not only to the upperslide mechanism 42, but also to the lower slide mechanism 41, or to theboth.

Although the configuration in which the intermediate stopper mechanism70 is applied to the table cutting machine 1 provided with the upper andlower slide mechanisms 41 and 42 at two levels is exemplified, theintermediate stopper mechanism 70 is also applicable to the tablecutting machine having a single level sliding mechanism.

Further, the intermediate stopper mechanism 70 can be applied to a tablecutting machine that does not have the lateral tilt supporting mechanism50.

1. A cutting machine comprising: a table supporting a workpiece; and acutting machine body supported on the table and movable in a verticaldirection and a direction within a plane parallel to a surface of thetable, the cutting machine body including a fixed cover positionedaround an upper side of a rotary blade mounted to a rotatably drivenspindle, wherein a rear edge portion of the fixed cover positioned at arear side region with respect to the spindle is retracted upward toenable a large cutting depth at the rear side region, the rear sideregion extending to a rear edge of the fixed cover; the cutting machinebody is supported by a sliding mechanism that slidably moves in thedirection within the plane parallel to the table surface; the slidingmechanism includes an intermediate stopper mechanism that prevents thecutting machine body from slidably moving in a cutting direction intothe workpiece within a first portion of an entire slidable range of thecutting machine body while permitting the cutting machine body toslidably move in the cutting direction into the workpiece within asecond portion of the slidable range; and the first portion of theentire slidable range extends from a midpoint of the entire slidablerange to a first end of the entire slidable range, and the secondportion of the entire slidable range extends from the midpoint of theentire slidable range to a second end of the entire slidable range; andwherein the intermediate stopper mechanism includes a stopper shaftportion that moves between a slide side and a slide support side of thesliding mechanism.
 2. The cutting machine according to claim 1, whereinthe stopper shaft portion is disposed on the slide side and movesbetween a restricting position interfering with the slide support sideand a non-restricting side not interfering with the slide support side,the sliding distance of the cutting machine body is restricted at themidpoint within the entire slidable range when the stopper shaft portionis positioned at the restricting position, and the cutting machine bodyis permitted to slide within the entire slidable range when the stoppershaft portion is positioned at the non-restricting position.
 3. Acutting machine comprising: a table supporting a workpiece; and acutting machine body supported by the table via a sliding mechanism toallow movement in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, thecutting machine body including a fixed cover positioned around an upperside of a rotary blade mounted to a rotatably driven spindle; wherein arear edge portion of the fixed cover positioned at a rear side regionwith respect to the spindle is recessed upward to enable a large cuttingdepth, the rear side region extending to a rear edge of the fixed cover;the sliding mechanism includes an intermediate stopper mechanism thatswitches between a state where the cutting machine body is permitted toslide within an entire slidable range and a state where the cuttingmachine body is permitted to slide only within a partial slidable rangethat extends from a midpoint of the entire slidable range to an end ofthe entire slidable range; and wherein the sliding mechanism includes astopper shaft portion that moves between a slide side and a slidesupport side of the sliding mechanism.
 4. The cutting machine accordingto claim 3, wherein the stopper shaft portion is disposed on the slideside and moves between a restricting position interfering with the slidesupport side and a non-restricting side not interfering with the slidesupport side, the sliding distance of the cutting machine body isrestricted at the midpoint within the entire slidable range when thestopper shaft portion is positioned at the restricting position, and thecutting machine body is permitted to slide within the entire slidablerange when the stopper shaft portion is positioned at thenon-restricting position.
 5. A cutting machine comprising: a table; acutting machine body including a blade, the cutting machine body ismovably supported above the table and capable of vertical movement; anda fixed cover positioned around a first portion of the blade, wherein arear edge portion of the fixed cover is recessed; a lever portionextending from the body; and a shaft portion extending from the body,upon movement of the lever portion, the shaft portion being positionedto contact the bearing holder to constrain movement thereof; wherein thecutting machine body includes a body supporting member connected to thecutting machine body, the body supporting member including an uppersliding mechanism that moves the cutting machine body forward andbackward through a movement range, wherein the upper sliding mechanismincludes a stopper mechanism that constrains movement of the cuttingmachine body backward from a midpoint the movement range whilepermitting movement of the cutting machine body forward from themidpoint of the movement range, the upper sliding mechanism extendsbetween a tilting bracket and a bearing holder, and the stoppermechanism includes a body positioned around the upper sliding mechanism.6. The cutting machine of claim 1, wherein the bearing holder includesribs to facilitate the constraint of movement of the shaft portion. 7.The cutting machine of claim 6, wherein the ribs facilitate theconstraint of the movement of the shaft portion by contacting the shaftportion in an axial direction of the shaft portion.